Blueberry oat muffins

Last Sunday, on a rainy afternoon, I thought I'd make a batch of muffins. It's always a good time to make muffins. Lately, I've been inspired by Cooking Light's Healthy Habits Cookbook, which I picked up on sale after the holidays. It isn't a diet book by any means, or necessarily a cookbook though there are a good amount of recipes in it. It essentially consolidates the 12 healthy habits the magazine had been discussing throughout the past year into one place. I'm glad I bought it because it's like a good reference book; there are a lot of useful information, healthy recipes, and tips that I see myself going back to for inspiration.

Ground oats and plenty of blueberries in these muffins

These blueberry oat muffins are one of the recipes in the book. I feel like you can never have too many muffin recipes in your arsenal so I'm always interested in trying a new one out. Muffins are just easy to whip up and they make for a great snack, treat, or a sweet breakfast if you're so inclined. My husband's sweet tooth is activated from the moment he wakes up til bedtime so he's always game for muffins. With a tight schedule in the morning, they make a quick breakfast option on some days for him, too. The goal, of course, is to find recipes that are more muffin than cupcake.

They turned out more moist than I expected...the brown sugar helps

My husband had recently requested blueberry banana muffins, which I (eventually) made and he polished off. I thought these blueberry oat ones would be a similar alternative that he'd also like. And happily, I was right. We both like the sweetness from brown sugar and the background note of cinnamon here. We also like the flavor and texture from ground oats and whole wheat flour. Buttermilk, along with a little canola oil, provides moisture. Of course, there are plenty of blueberries, which adds even more moisture, along with some lemon zest that just goes so naturally with it.I made a half recipe, or 9 muffins. Using frozen blueberries, it's easy to put a batch together. The muffins stayed moist for a couple of days at room temperature and I stowed a few away in the freezer for a quick breakfast to come. The freezer has become a very good friend of mine these days.

I sprinkled turbinado sugar over the top of the muffins for a little texture

Is it me or is the middle muffin smiling at us? I love a happy muffin.

I like the convenience of using frozen blueberries for muffins since I'm likely to have them on hand but I'm also looking forward to making a batch or two with fresh ones when they're in season. Toss the frozen blueberries in a bit of flour to keep them from streaking the batter too much. If you use fresh blueberries, you can skip that step.Recipe:Blueberry Oat MuffinsAdapted from Cooking Light

In a large measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, oil, egg, lemon zest, and vanilla together. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until almost combined. Toss the frozen blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour (if using fresh blueberries, just add them alone) and gently fold it into the batter.Divide batter into the 9 prepared muffin cups (the batter will come nearly to the top). Sprinkle each with a bit of sugar, if using. Bake for about 20 minutes, until muffins spring back lightly to the touch. Let muffins cool a few minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then remove from the pan to cool completely.

I love using ground oats in baking recipes - it's something I've really gotten into lately! And with the buttermilk and lemon zest in these ... they sound pretty darn awesome! There is just something about blueberry muffins that I find incredibly hard to resist! : )

Me, too! I love some ground oats in choc-chip cookies...almost like not enough to make it oatmeal choc chip cookies but the oats are hidden in there in a subtle way but give them a lot of chew and texture. : ) Blueberry muffins do seem to go down easy and before you know it, you ate 2 already.

I love the smiley face muffin :-) I wish I had one of these right now... I've had a ridiculously long lie in and am only just about to make breakfast. If I wasn't so lazy, I would make these right now!

It's definitely still a sweet muffin but I think there are some good wholesome ingredients tossed in here to make it a good breakfast muffin option. I think you're right. Turbinado is coarse and I believe demerara is too? I see it all the time and I'm curious to bake with it but still haven't. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Love baking on a raining afternoon too and these muffins look delicious Monica! Hehe, the smiley one is so cute too :) I can never resist a blueberry muffin and especially one with oats - it sounds wonderful with the buttermilk and lemon zest too! Hope you enjoyed your weekend and have a great week :)

These do look like happy muffins because they are packed with so much flavour. Blueberries and raspberries are my favourite ingredients to throw into a muffin or even a cake. I love that these have oats in them too..the texture is unique with the addition of oats...so delicious!

truly, it's always good to find good muffin recipes: they're so easy to make, and you know someone in the house will always want them, so finding new ones to add to your rotation is great. these look lovely; i'm a sucker for blueberry muffins anyway (probably they're my favorite all-time muffin) so i would love these.

Blueberry muffins are always a comfort, and using frozen blueberries when they're not in season is perfectly acceptable. I like the healthy take--I'm always looking for guiltless ways to enjoy treats :)

LinkWithin

Thank you for visiting my blog, where I journal some of the results of my sweet (and sometimes savory) creations in the kitchen! It's all about having fun, learning from others, and enjoying the fruits of your labor with those you care about.